The present invention relates generally to jewelry cleaning brushes and more particularly to brushes having bristles grouped as tufts and divided into zones, with each zone configured to clean a particular type or shape of jewelry.
Jewelry is currently cleaned by a variety of methods, including commercial jewelry cleaning liquids, steam cleaners, ultrasonic cleaners, boiling, aqua ammonia, and mechanical polishing. Commercial cleaning fluids typically include a small brush to aid in cleaning the jewelry. These small jewelry cleaning brushes are principally of a design employing a one-by-seven or two-by-seven tuft layout. In other words, these brushes are simply arranged in one or two straight rows (respectively) of seven tufts, trimmed with a flat top. Each tuft itself contains multiple single strands or filaments that are themselves either straight or crimped. Crimped strands are stiffer and create a different feel as compared to straight strands.
The reality is that most jewelry pieces provide a varied, multi-contoured surface profile. Chains present a flat or rounded cross section, rings present both rounded cross sections and highly detailed mount area and earrings can present an arbitrary shape. But flat trimmed tuftel brushes have difficulty in naturally conforming to such varied jewelry surfaces, ultimately requiring the user to spend considerable time cleaning. Thus, the prior art jewelry brushes are not optimal forjewelry cleaning because they do not account for the wide variation in jewelry surfaces and thus fail to provide a mechanism to clean multiple surface profiles.
One solution is to fabricate the bristles of a pliable material greatly increasing bristle flex thus allowing the brush to conform better to the jewelry surface. But this solution may require the user to exert additional force during brushing to conform the bristles to the surface, often causing the uncontrolled distribution of cleaning fluid in the area as each bristle springs away from the jewelry surface. In addition, over time the bristles would remain in their flexed configuration or would break off and embed themselves in the jewelry.
Thus, it is a goal of the present invention to provide a jewelry brush with improved cleaning capabilities.
It is an additional goal of the present invention to provide a jewelry brush capable of cleaning multiple surface profiles.
It is a further goal of the present invention to provide a jewelry brush capable of cleaning a variety of different jewelry pieces.
It is a goal of the present invention to provide an improved jewelry brush including a mechanism to store the brush with a cleaning solution.
These and other objectives will become evident from the following:
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a jewelry brush is provided which exhibits improved jewelry cleaning. The jewelry brush includes a plurality of bristles divided into at least two zones with preferred embodiments utilizing three zones. Each zone has characteristics directed to cleaning a particular jewelry profile. The characteristics include modified bristle length, material characteristics, angle, grouping and grouping shape.
In one embodiment of the invention, the brush comprises a shaft have a shaft axis, the shaft being divided into a handle portion and a head portion. The head portion has a tope surface and a bottom surface, with a plurality of bristles secured to the top surface. The bristles are divided into at least two zones, the first zone being located at the end of the head away from the handle. The first zone is composed of a either a single large bristle or a plurality of bristles forming one or more tufts, mounted at an angle such that the angle between the shaft axis and the bristle as measured from the handle side of the bristles is greater than 90 degrees. The bristles in the first zone may also be trimmed to present a rounded or flat contour at the top. The first zone bristles are shaped so as to facilitate cleaning small, detailed jewelry surfaces.
The second zone is composed of multiple groups of bristles mounted at substantially right angles to the shaft axis and located proximally to the first zone and toward the handle portion. The second zone bristles are adapted to clean a gemstone mounting or rounded jewelry portion. The second zone bristles are trimmed to provide an indented cup surface contour, allowing a gem stone mount to nestle within the bristles. This zone may be formed from two concentric ovals of tufts trimmed so as to create a concave cup.
In additional embodiments of the invention, the jewelry brush further includes a third zone of bristles mounted at substantially right angles to the shaft and located proximally to the second zone and toward the handle portion. The third zone bristles are adapted to clean an elongated jewelry profile, such as that presented by a chain. The third zone bristles are trimmed to provide an indented channel surface contour, allowing a chain or bar portion to nestle within the bristles.
Additional embodiments of the invention may further include additional zones of bristles trimmed with additional surface profiles. In addition, the brush can be constructed to include a bottle cap in the handle portion, allowing the jewelry brush to be include and retained in a bottle that itself may contain cleaning fluids.